Celebrating local leaders
Today is International Volunteer Managers Day! This day is celebrated annually on 5th November by Volunteer Marlborough, the other volunteer centres around the country, and Volunteering New Zealand. This year marks the 21st year that IVMDay has been celebrated internationally.
The theme this year is "What's Next?" which will allow us to focus on what volunteer management will look like in a post Covid-19 world.
New Zealanders are encouraged to reflect on this as we celebrate the importance of management of volunteers. It is a challenge to us all to consider:
- How we think volunteer leadership is positioned
- How new volunteering roles might look
- The challenges of returning to volunteering during Covid-19 recovery
- How we look at our own well-being in order to be better leaders
International Volunteer Managers Day is an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the work of managers and leaders of volunteers. Their ability to lead, motivate, and organise volunteers to make a difference in communities across the globe is inspiring.
While volunteering can be described as the backbone of society, the efforts of volunteers would not happen as efficiently and effectively as they do if it wasn't for the volunteer managers who lead them. They support volunteers by finding and fulfilling their passion across countless organisations each year.
This is a day not only to celebrate their successes, but to set goals for the future - building productive teams where people with responsibility for volunteering have a key strategic voice. A strong dynamic volunteer programme needs a well-supported manager and the engagement of the whole organisation.
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️